


Only the Lonely Survive

by DarbyDoo22



Series: Phantoms [1]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Ben Hargreeves is Dead, Canonical Character Death, Diego Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Grief/Mourning, Klaus Hargreeves Needs A Hug, M/M, Reginald Hargreeves' A+ Parenting, Stuttering Diego Hargreeves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-07
Updated: 2019-06-07
Packaged: 2020-04-12 02:36:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19122853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarbyDoo22/pseuds/DarbyDoo22
Summary: Diego seeks Klaus’ comfort after Ben’s death. It doesn’t end the way Klaus expected it to. Then things really don’t go the way Klaus expected them to.





	Only the Lonely Survive

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone! This will be an 11, maybe 12 part series based on the album Phantoms by Marianas Trench. It just fits these two so perfectly I couldn’t just not write it :) 
> 
> Let me know what you think!

Klaus was fourteen years old and still at the Academy. Everything was the same as it had always been, and yet it was so different. Nothing ever changed at the academy, but nothing could stay the same, considering Ben had had died yesterday. 

Klaus was sitting on the floor in his room, a duffle bag sitting on the floor in front of him. Not for the first time, he thinking of leaving. Of getting the hell out of this fucked up place and never coming back. There wasn’t much keeping him here at this point. 

Making sure Diego was okay. Making sure Ben knew where to find him. 

That was it. The sum of his reasons for staying at the Academy now consisted of making sure Diego didn’t break and end up a mindless obedient puppet like Luther had, and hoping to god Ben’s ghost tried to find him here. 

Klaus sigh and pushed his duffle bag back under the bed. Even if Ben never found him, if Ben’s ghost had found whatever peace there was to find, Klaus was going to stay. Diego was worth it. 

Worth the hours of training that were more an exercise of Luther beating Klaus than anything. Worth the days he would spend locked in that fucking crypt with the ghosts screaming at him. Worth- 

His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. He got up and stumbled towards the door. All his years of training had not made him any lighter on his feet. 

Whatever Klaus was expecting, it certainly wasn’t a teary eyed Diego. 

Diego must really be hurting if he came to see Klaus, he thought sadly. Klaus was all too aware that any feelings he had for Diego were not reciprocated. But that didn’t stop him from letting Diego into his room. From guiding Diego to his bed. 

Diego hesitated for only a second before climbing under the sheets. He made scooted close to the wall, making as much room as he could for Klaus in the small single bed. 

Once Klaus was next to him in the bed, Diego started to shift around so he was facing the wall. Klaus shuffled closer to him, knowing that he was only getting as close as Diego would let him. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” Klaus whispered eventually. There was maybe an inch of space between his chest and Diego’s back, and Klaus didn’t know what to do with his arms. The long limbs rested awkwardly at his side, longing to reach out and pull Diego to him. 

“I-I... w-what is t-there to t-talk a-about?” Diego stuttered out. God, it had been so long since Klaus had heard Diego’s stutter he’d nearly forgotten about it. Nearly. 

“B-Ben died. He’s d-dead and th-there’s nothing we-nothing I-I can do” Diego stuttered out. It sounded like he was holding back tears, and Klaus could hardly blame him. He’d cried his eyes out all day. 

“I’m so sorry Diego. I can’t even imagine what you’re going through” Klaus told him, even though he was pretty sure he knew exactly what Diego was feeling. At his words, Diego turned around.

“W-what do you mean? You lost him t-too” Diego said. Klaus just shrugged, mumbling the word ‘powers’ before looking away. 

“T-that’s not how your powers work though, is it? You c-can’t just call someone whenever you want” Diego countered, taking Klaus completely by surprise. 

All of their other siblings seemed to think that was exactly how it worked. They’d blamed him for not being able to contact Five after he’d disappeared, but no one knew if he was even dead. And now, everyone but Diego, it would seem, were going to blame him for not being able to contact Ben. 

Klaus sighed. He was too exhausted to think about Diego knowing him better than the rest of their fucked up family. 

He leaned back into his pillow and was ready to close his eyes. But Diego started to move around again, effectively keeping Klaus awake. 

By the time Diego stopped shifting in the bed, he was pressed up against Klaus’s side. Fuck, Diego was really testing the littlest patience he had. 

Klaus took a breath to steady himself, resigned to the fact that he would not be getting much sleep tonight. Not with Diego looking so perfect, and pressed up against him so warmly. 

Klaus continued to stay as still as he could, until he heard Diego sigh.

“Really gonna make me ask for it?” Diego mumbled, and when had his face gotten so close to Klaus? What the hell was Diego talking about? Klaus wondered. 

“Cuddle me? P-please?” Diego asked. Klaus would have honestly thought he was joking, that this was all some elaborate trick, if it weren’t for the way Diego’s voice stuttered when he’d said please. 

Klaus turned back towards Diego and wrapped both arms around him. He pulled Diego in close, feeling Diego nuzzle his face into the crook of his neck. 

As soon as Diego’s face was hidden from Klaus’ view, Klaus felt a pair of lips pressing soft kisses along his neck. 

What. The. Fuck. 

Was Diego kissing him? Klaus was seriously reevaluating his previous thoughts on this being some sort of joke. 

Why else would Diego be in Klaus’ bed, kissing him? 

“Klaus?” Diego whispered after a few more kisses. “D-did I ... read t-that wrong?”he asked. 

“I-I’m sorry. I sh-shouldn’t have- n-not after Ben. N-not when I-I didn’t know-“ Klaus cut him off by cupping Diego’s face in one of his hands and kissing him. 

Klaus didn’t have many kisses to compare it to, but he knew it was something different. Something special. God, it felt like he was floating. Like the kiss was suspending gravity itself. 

When Klaus finally pulled away, because he, at least needed to breath, Diego was smiling. That was a sight Klaus could get used to. 

“Sleep?” Klaus offered, and Diego nodded. 

“Klaus?” Diego asked some time later. Klaus was almost half asleep at that point, so all he could do was hum in response. 

“Thank you” Diego said. It was the last thing Klaus remembered before falling asleep. 

 

Diego was gone the next morning. And not just from Klaus’ bed. He’d packed up his belongings and left the Academy. 

Klaus was not okay. He’d wanted to leave so badly, to get as far away from this place of nightmares as he could. But he’d been ready to stay, for Diego. 

It may very well have killed him, but he would have stayed here forever with Diego if it would mean they were together. And wasn’t that tragic. He would have died if it meant saving Diego. But only the lonely survive, Klaus thought bitterly to himself. 

Klaus left the Academy two days later, hanging onto the duffle bag he’d stuffed under his bed, and a hope that wherever he went, Ben would at least be able to find him.


End file.
